Coal miners say they were forced to attend Romney event and donate

A group of coal miners in Ohio feel they would have been fired if they did not attend an Aug. 14 event with presumptive Republican presidential
nominee Mitt Romney and contribute to his campaign — and to make matters worse, they lost of day of pay for their trouble.

In phone calls and emails to WWVA radio host David Blomquist, employees at the Century Mine in Ohio said they feared retaliation if they did not
attend the Romney event.

“Yes, we were in fact told that the Romney event was mandatory and would be without pay, that the hours spent there would need to be made up my
non-salaried employees outside of regular working hours, with the only other option being to take a pay cut for the equivalent time,” the employees
told Blomquist. “Yes, letters have gone around with lists of names of employees who have not attended or donated to political events.”

“I realize that many people in this area and elsewhere would love to have my job or my benefits,” one worker explained. “And our bosses do not
hesitate in reminding us of this. However, I can not agree with these callers and my supervisors, who are saying that just because you have a good
job, that you should have to work any day for free on almost no notice without your consent.”

Knew something was very odd about this staged event. A group of coal miners acting as a backdrop for a Romney campaign stop, and yes, they are
standing their with coal-smeared grimy faces and overalls even though they didn't work that day...

One quote really stands out:

“I realize that many people in this area and elsewhere would love to have my job or my benefits,” one worker explained. “And our bosses do
not hesitate in reminding us of this. However, I can not agree with these callers and my supervisors, who are saying that just because you have a good
job, that you should have to work any day for free on almost no notice without your consent.”

This is the direction the GOP wants to take labor - to make us so thankful to even have a job, we will do anything, even work a day for free with
little notice and without your consent - or lose your job.

Phot: Nothing says "I believe in coal than unpaid miners forced to wear blackface on a day off"

At the time, conservative blogs and websites like The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit and Townhall trumpeted the fact that “hundreds of Ohio
coal miners attended” the event. Even though the mine was closed on Aug. 14, soot-covered miners were staged behind the GOP hopeful as he
spoke.

There is a place for political shenanigans, then there is going too far. This, is too far.

If I were one of the workers I'd be going nuts, on the one hand I'd like to tell my boss he can go Eff himself and shove the job somewhere
unpleasant. But on the other hand, in this economy there would be no way I'd be able to do that.

"Smile... The Party has made your decision for you and you couldn't be happier!"

This rally stunt was offensive on two levels. The first was the absurdity of the miners, covered in soot, arranged behind Romney. Did they just crawl
out of a mine? If anything, it just looked comical.

The second is a little more serious. Where were their rights? Forced to attend a rally by their employer, and not paid for it. Obviously, we used to
have unions to protect against these sorts of abuses. But that was then. Circulating memos that named those miners who refused to partake is
disgusting.

I was ready to call BS on this story - but after reading it in full I think the company was basically telling the workers they had to be there,
unpaid, for the good of the industry.

Murray Energy Chief Financial Officer Rob Moore told Blomquist that the charges were untrue. "We had managers that communicated to our work
force that the attendance at the Romney event was mandatory, but no one was forced to attend the event..."

Wait, what? Did they have to attend or not?

“But why not still pay then their wage for that day?” Blomquist pressed.

“By federal election law, we could not pay people to attend the event,” Moore replied. “And we did not want anyone to come back and see where
anyone had been paid for that day.”

“I’m not saying pay then to attend the event, I’m saying, ‘Hey look, we have to close down the mine, if you want to attend this event,
that’s fine, but you’re still going to get a day’s pay for the work that you would have done,’” Blomquist pointed out. “Why not do
that?”

“As a private employer, it was our decision and we made the decision not to pay the people,” the Murray chief financial officer said.

I don't know how many of you have ever been in a coal mine, but I have!!

There is absolutely NO black soot anywhere!! Everywhere in a coal mine is COVERED in limestone, which is non flammable so the mine doesn't explode
from a spark.....

You look more like a snowman coming out of a coal mine........There are parts of the mine by the conveyor belts that have a foot or so deep of
limestone because of the fans blowing from one end to the other.....To keep the limestone moving to coat everything possible!!!

I had fun in the coal mines, but this is rediculous!!! There is no BLACK soot that you can be covered with......Maybe at the drilling point, but even
there, by the time you get back on the rail car and drive 40 minutes plus back to the entrance, you are covered in white again!!!

I don't know how many of you have ever been in a coal mine, but I have!!

There is absolutely NO black soot anywhere!! Everywhere in a coal mine is COVERED in limestone, which is non flammable so the mine doesn't explode
from a spark.....

You look more like a snowman coming out of a coal mine........There are parts of the mine by the conveyor belts that have a foot or so deep of
limestone because of the fans blowing from one end to the other.....To keep the limestone moving to coat everything possible!!!

I had fun in the coal mines, but this is rediculous!!! There is no BLACK soot that you can be covered with......Maybe at the drilling point, but even
there, by the time you get back on the rail car and drive 40 minutes plus back to the entrance, you are covered in white again!!!

What a joke!!! This stuff makes me sick.....

........So does ROMNEY!!!

What??? You obviously have never been in an active/working coal mine. My entire family were coal miners... you get covered in black.

Why didnt the workers make signs stating they were here against their will, this is a live broadcast, they were standing directly behind Romney, they
could all have held them up as the cameras were rolling.

Alternatively. One of them could have pushed Romney aside and addressed the cameras directly. Sure there would be some interception. But there would
have been a good few seconds, plenty of time to speak, before the hail of bullets.

And even if there were bullets. It would sure make for a greater representation of what these politicians really stand for. (Supposed supporters
gunned down on live tv).

Look at Tiananmen Square, one man can make a difference.

If America is truly the bastion of freedom and justice, one would hope, the (protesters) would not be prosecuted. And for the forced day off, how can
that be justified. Could they not sue for this.?

Originally posted by Blackmarketeer
This rally stunt was offensive on two levels. The first was the absurdity of the miners, covered in soot, arranged behind Romney. Did they just crawl
out of a mine? If anything, it just looked comical.

The second is a little more serious. Where were their rights? Forced to attend a rally by their employer, and not paid for it. Obviously, we used to
have unions to protect against these sorts of abuses. But that was then. Circulating memos that named those miners who refused to partake is
disgusting.

It used to be called "black balling/yellowlisting" and the Unions worked to get it made "illegal"...now the unions have lost their power due to
corruption and the propaganda that "right to work" is a good idea. "Right to work" simply means that your employer can cut you loose for no
reason at all and there is nothing you can do about it.

I have family members that were Union miners before the unions got gutted. They were thankful for the safety and "humane" treatment that the unions
fought for. Then slowly, that all changed. Reagan gutted the air traffic controllers in the 80's and after that, they steadily lost power and
influence.

no one today will do what was done "back in the day". If you ever get bored, look into the Matewan march. Where hundreds of tired and enslaved
miners marched from the hills of West virginia to Washington DC to protest for safety and workers rights. The Coal companies hired Pinkerton security
and paid off local law enforcement to open fire on them to stop the march. The miners fought back. Our society today is completely incapable of this
risk and sacrifice...they might lose their cell phone service.

Not sure what they're complaining about. It's not like anyone is holding a gun to their head and saying "you must be a coal miner. You must join
the union. You must miss work when told and attend events when told."

If they don't like it - quit.

Ohh...that's right. They're uneducated imbeciles who don't know HOW to do anything else - far be it from trying to actually Learn something.

Yeah....let's feel sorry for them.

Booo

Hooo

(sorry for the rant. I have nothing against miners specifically. I just can't stand it when people take anything that's totally in their own
control and shift accountability when something bad happens).

Here’s a full list of Obama’s union endorsements and the dates on which they were announced:
National Education Association (NEA) – July 4, 2011
United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) – October 20, 2011
National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) – November 16, 2011
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) – November 17, 2011
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) – November 19, 2011
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) – December 6, 2011
Communications Workers of America (CWA) – February 2, 2012
American Federation of Teachers (AFT) – February 7, 2012
International Association of Machinists (IAM) – February 24, 2012
United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry (UA) – March 1, 2012
United Steel Workers (USW) – March 4, 2012
Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) – March 8, 2012
AFL-CIO – March 13, 2012

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.